KEABING IMPROVED RACES. 266 



ready to hatch, from the best breeding mother. 



Unless very great care is used in transferring a royal cell, 

 its inmates will be destroyed, as her body, until she is nearly 

 mature, is so exceedingly soft, that a slight compression of 

 her cell — especially near the base, where there is no cocoon — 

 generally proves fatal. For this reason, it is best to defer 

 removing them, until they are within three or four days of 

 hatching. A queen-cell, nearly mature, may be known by 

 its having the wax removed from the lid, by the bees, so as 

 to give it a brown appearance. 



618. If the weather is warm, and the hive, to which a 

 queen-cell is given, is very populous, the cell may be intro- 

 duced by simply inserting it in its natural position between 

 two combs of brood. /{ is very important to have the queen- 

 cell in or near the brood, or the bees might neglect it. 



Sometimes, the bees so crowd their royal cells together 

 (fig. 91) that it is difllcult to remove one without fatally 



dig. 91.) 



CLUSTER OF CELLS. 



(From Alley's Handy 

 Book.) 



injuring another, as, when a cell is cut into, the destruction 

 and removal of the larva usually follows. Mr. Alley, by 

 his method, given further on (528), found a remedy for 

 this. If many queens are to be raised, it is well to have a 

 new supply of cells started every week or even oftener. 



